Everyday Magic
by SurprisedbyJoy
Summary: One shots of H&S wandering through the early stages of life after the curse, figuring out different forms of magic, having friendly arguments, discovering and loving and running away from or towards new problems. Fluffy, at some points! HxS
1. Chapter 1

**Everyday Magic **by SurprisedbyJoy

- Thanks for reading! These are just little one shots I write to myself... after being randomly inspired by whatever I run across day-to-day. I love HMC and Diana Wynne Jones, so this is all bookverse and fluff and probably fodder for future, more concrete stories. Apologies for any grammatical/other types of errors, this hasn't been beta-ed. I don't own anything contained herein, not Howl nor Sophie nor the worlds! Inspiration taken from my life & travels in Wales and Ireland. -

"The thing is, my curiosity about magic really being a possibility, not just my silly childhood fairytales, began when I realised it had the potential to be real in my world in small, mundane ways."

Sophie crunched another leaf under the heel of her boot as they approached the stile ahead of them. "Mundane magic?"

"Mm, like... it's hard to explain, since you're so accustomed to extraordinary magic. I guess I began to see it as the 'lucky'... that's not the right word... an occurrence of things... some people have some mysterious quality about them that draws animals to them more than others. Or others have perfect timing-I had a friend who could always accurately guess the time without seeing a clock, who usually made a lucky guess down to the minute. Other times it's just... the small surprises, joys in life. Hard to explain, till you look for it or experience it."

"Someone who naturally knows when a cake or pie is ready. Or senses when something's in the garden. Or can enthrall people with a story. Turn rubbish into treasures."

"I knew you'd get it!" said Howl, jumping down the other side of the turnstile, into the soft dirt. He turned and offered a hand, unnecessary to Sophie but still appreciated. She smiled as she took it. Howl continued, caught up this one thought. "You see, that was what my postgrad studies were all about. Commonplace magic. There's a whole paper with official terminology, but that's useless when it comes down to people relating to it. I tried explaining it to Michael, but it flew over his head like those geese."

"Did you try it with Suliman?" Sophie asked, watching said geese fly over the horizon in their triangle formation.

"Oh, he understands it better than a commoner off the streets of Ingary, but he's so careful and exact and doesn't quite get the whole random chance thing. It's more of an interesting theory rather than a likely possibility or fact of life to him."

Sophie thought about the university and the careful study of magic of which Howl spoke. As she gripped his hand, she imagined a gangly rugby player with skinned knees spending an afternoon watching a spider spin a web. She saw the same boy sitting on a bench, eyes attuned to the quirks of the passerby. The handsome, fresh face filled with concentration as his fingers flew faster and faster, churning out words about the new world he had only partially uncovered.

A tug on her hand brought Sophie back, and she stopped as Howl did. "What are you thinking so intently about, Mrs. Head-in-the-clouds?"

To her surprise, Sophie coloured slightly. "Oh, I... the university you talk about. And what you studied there. How you uncovered my-our-world."

"We'll go there soon-but, would you like to read one of the papers? I'm fairly certain I've got it in a box at Megan's, if she hasn't burned the lot already. It might not be terribly thrilling reading for you-"

"I want to read it. I never quite finished school... but I still want to learn, maybe catch up a bit." She paused. "And, I suppose, to find out what you were like before you were heartless Howl, to see what theories you had about my world."

Howl laughed, but looked pleasantly surprised. "Watch out, you're practically flattering me now, and I thought that was a practice you despised." Sophie snorted. Howl waved a hand. "No, no, I'm genuinely pleased, it's not the kind of thing I'd ever easily share with someone else."

Sophie nodded. Howl let go of her hand as they paused again, closer to the river. The air had that irresistibly energizing scent of fall, decay and fire and chill in a strange but appealing combination. He tested the ground with one hand, making sure it wasn't going to soak what Sophie considered to be already not-worth-saving clothes. The woman didn't and wouldn't ever understand the importance of a good denim pair of jeans, he thought, but boy did she understand magic.

He sat down, reaching back for Sophie and tugging her down as well. The wide river in front of them, carrying orange leaves, was the only noise in the otherwise desolate landscape. It wound through the mountains and down through the plain they had walked through as though it was a living thing; its water not only a life source, but a form of life and strength itself as it eroded and cleansed. Sophie pondered the rocks that weathered life in the stream, and lost herself in the thought until she felt Howl's arm around her waist, drawing her back to reality. She leaned her head on the his shoulder, breathing in the soft wool and his warm skin. Sometimes there was magic in the simple circumstances of life. Magic that had no mystery to it, but whose currents ran instead with simplicity and warmth.


	2. The Rocky Road to University

(thanks for reading, guys! I intended this to just be short stories but it may turn into something longer. This is rather an interlude, because I need more time to work out the plot with the university and tie stuff together... I mean, it does move it along, just slower than I intended. So enjoy, and I apologise for the delay, I'm writing more these days! Cheers!)

"Damn!" whispered Howl, squeezing the papercut finger and continuing to absentmindedly shuffle through the rest of the papers with the other fingers. He was, of course, talking to himself as he stood in the dim light of the garage in the back garden of Megan's house. There was no one to hear the exclamation, as Sophie arrived just as Howl had found the important blue file folder and was flipping through it with apparent disregard for the small droplets of blood collecting on the cover.

"What're you looking for?"

"The paper we were talking about yesterday. You know, one of the ones talking about everyday magic. Before I discovered the theories to get to your world. I think it's in here…" Howl trailed off, flipping back a few pages. Sophie observed the faint sunlight through the small window, which backlit the dust motes and seemed to give them a magic of their own. "You know, I see a sun ray outside."

"Mmm."

"Howl?"

"Hold on, I've…" Howl got lost in this thought, thoroughly reading the paper he held up towards the light shaft.

"Yes, it's sunny. How would you like to take a trip to a place with old buildings and greens and secluded rivers? Old buildings full of time? Greens full of picture perfect people? Secluded rivers which wind down avenues of metaphoric memories?" Howl asked in a jokingly overdramatic tone, flinging an arm into the air.

"Sounds like going back to Ingary."

It wasn't Ingary, but the differences made it all the more interesting to Sophie. The Ingrarian sounding place turned out to be a university campus, and Howl had it in mind to enjoy a relaxing day outdoors, exploring and posing as grad students-although Sophie could get away with being an undergraduate, he thought-and then, find a specific professor, specific book in the library, and specific stone statue.

They came to a rapid stop in front of the convenience store of a petrol station that was in the countryside. Sophie, who had just had an earful from her husband on how this was "a great deal less busy than any _real _petrol station in a normal town" and "you have no idea how busy these things normally are. We're so lucky", it still seemed a mind boggling and frantic place. The three other cars were taking turns zipping around the parking lot, people getting in and out, people attaching some odd sort of long leash to the car and standing there watching it for a specific amount of time until they apparently felt like removing said leash.

"I'll show you how," said Howl as he downshifted and pulled up next to one of the tall boxes that held the leashes. In a few fast motions, which Sophie had no time to process, he was touching some sort of lever, springing out of the vehicle, and reaching a hand into a hole in the side of the car.

"See, there's oil in here. Well, in the ground, but this is the pump, and it gets it into the car so the car can run on it."

Except for the confusing looking machine and the beeping noises, as well as the mystery of _how_, Sophie felt surprised that this didn't feel too far beyond her grasp. She nodded attentively. Until they were back in the car, her clutching a handle and the edge of the faded seat, and Howl was explaining something about the handle between them that he kept pulling back and forth every time they stopped or went.  
Sophie began formulating daydreams again, unconsciously, as Howl continued. Her mind kept in filling wide gaps of knowledge that she didn't have-what was Howl like in primary school? Secondary? Where did he and Megan live? She dreamed up a small brick house on the corner. Kids, shouting and kicking a round ball down the street, became animated in her head, and the picture switched to a living room scene, then Howl reaching his hand through an open space that was dark and mysterious.

"... right?" Howl finished, looking briefly over at Sophie, cocking an eyebrow.

"Oh… of course!" Sophie went for the affirmative here, since the wizard looked expectant.

"I just asked you if you were a nosy, bossy, appallingly clean _young _lady to see if you were listening, and you agreed with me." This was delivered with a note of triumph.

Sophie huffed and frowned. "Well, I can't very well be expected to listen if you talk about these MACHINES, since anything in your world is _way _beyond me."

"You wanted to know! You keep asking me questions! And the second I grace your ears with a lovely answer, you think about-oh, I don't know, the weather! Or all the _wonderful _things you left behind in oh-so-perfect Ingary!"

They came to a halt in the conversation. The car sped on by sheep pastures, as if nothing had happened. Sophie had her arms crossed, and was staring out the window. Howl shifted uncomfortably, wondering what she was thinking about, too afraid to say anything else in fear that it would be akin to starting a flood that would never stop. A mountain range came into view, and the car passed into dense tree cover, as Howl pondered this.

"I'm sorry, Howl."

"Sorry?! Sorry? I should be… sorry. I mean, don't apologise to me!" Howl said, caught off guard. He was a nanosecond away from opening his mouth and say the same thing-fool, he thought. You big fool. What a coward. "Er," he continued, softening his tone, "I shouldn't have said that. Actually, I'm sorry for boring you. I…" he trailed off.

Sophie stiffly unfolded her arms, still tense. "It's… I'm sorry too. It takes two to have an argument, doesn't it? I'm sorry for not listening to you. I shouldn't have drifted off."

"Drifted off? I can't blame you… I'm sure it was more interesting than the mechanics of my world."

"I was actually thinking about your world."

"What about?"

"Well, I guess trying to imagine what it was like living here." Sophie felt a little embarrassed, thinking of all the questions she wanted to ask but not wanting to pry. Learning to let another person into your life was really hard; hard to give up that privacy and slowly learn that they would know all about you. She decided she wouldn't push it.

"We're nearly to the university," Howl said, nodding at the road, which had taken them into more urban areas. Sophie could see a small city in the distance. "I expect you'll have a lot of answers then."

"Let's not be mad at each other then."

"Let's not," Howl replied, his fingers brushing hers and then settling near her knee.


End file.
